William k



w. R. DUN'HAM, JR.

' TIE PLATE.

APPLlCATlON FILED MAR. 31, 1920.

Patented Mar. 22, 1921.

WILLIAM R. DUNHAM, JR., 0]? NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

TIE-PLATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 22, 1921.

Application filed March 31, 1920. Serial No. 370,263.

To all'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLiAi It. DUN- HAM, Jr., a citizen of the United cltates, and a resident of New Haven, county of New Haven, State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in 'lie-Platcs, of which the following is a speci fication.

In railway track construction, it is usual to interpose tie plates between the cross ties and the rails and secure the rails in place by spikes driven through openings in the t e plates into the ties and having their heads overlying the edges of the rail base. It is the aim of the present invention to provide a tie plate of this sort having features of novelty and advantage as hereinafter pointed out in detail.

The various systems of railroads, both steam and electric, and frequently the. several sections of the same system or road use rails having bases of different widths and heretofore it has been the practice to so construct tie plates on which the rails rest that each was applicable for use with only one given width of rail base. This practice is objectionable in that it is necessary to manufacture and carry a separate stock of tie plates for each width of rail base which means tying up investment, and additionally inconveniences and difiiculties are eXperienced in distributing, etc., the tie plates.

By the present invention, each of the tie plates constructed in accordance therewith is applicable for use with rails having different base widths so that from a single stock of tie plates the demands of the various roads or sections of the same road may be met, thus eliminating the objections incident to the old practice where each tie plate was constructed to receive only one size of rail base.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein the preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated,

Figure 1 is a top plan view of my improved tie plate, and

Fig. 2 is a sectional. view thereof taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. l

Referring to the drawings in detail, the tie plate herein selected for illustrative purposes is shown as comprising a body portion 0; provided on its upper face and toward oneend with a transverse rib b interrupted by two openings 0 adapted to receive spikes (not shown) the heads of which overlie that edge of the rail base abutting the rib. The construction so far described is old and well known.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided in the end of the plate opposite the rib b one or more series of spike receiving openings 10. As herein shown there are two such series 01 openings, each series extending generally in a direction from one corner of the plate toward the center thereof, or, in other words, diagonally oi the plate. The openings of each series intersect or overlap and are laterally displaced so that they are in stepped formation, this being of advantage in that collectively the openings of each series constitute but a single aperture so that the strength of the plate is not reduced as would be the case if the openings were spaced apart, and also the openings are so located that the spikes which they receive will be in position to do the most good.

It is, of course, evident that the number o't openings of each series may be varied, in the present instance three such openings being shown for illustrative purposes so that the plate may be used with three different sizes of rail. bases, say 4;, 4. and 5 inch sizes. If a four inch rail base is used, a spike will be driven into the tie through the first opening 10; with a four and onehalf inch rail base the spike will be driven through the middle opening, and with a five inch rail base, through the last opening, that is to say the one nearest the edge of the tie plate. In each case it will be seen that the back of the spike will abut against the bearing edge 10 of the opening in which it is positioned so that the spike cannot work away from the rail base.

What I claim is A, tie plate provided at one end with a rib and a pair of spike receiving openings, and having at its other end two series of intersecting spike receiving openings arranged in stepped relation in opposite directions diagonally of the plate.

WILLIAM R. DUN HAL I, JR. 

